Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-02-04

l. any III fht hhtSiOhs-<th
Ice Mountain Planted in the Sea-Fate
of the Floating Monster-An Awful
Sight.
In the morning Gt was light now when
the sun rose it shone on what appeared
to be field of glass and city of crystal
Ice was to be seen all around as far as
the eye could penetrate. There was ice
in every size and form imaginable, and
the most wonderful thing about it was
that many of the masses resembled the
buildings of city There were houses
and churches monuments, spires and
ruins There were also islands and
mountains Some were low and fat,
others tall, with Jagged tops, many of
them miles and miles in extent. There
were number of bergs or ice mountains
higher than the mainmast of the tallest
ship. These were almost white, but had
in many places a greenish blue color that
was soft and beautiful.
The whole scene shone and sparkled so
brilliantly in the light of the Just return
ing sun that one could almost fancy that
this was the region of fairyland.
Here was very large berg immediate
ly before us. 1t was Jagged in form and
high rather than broad. Great peaks
rose up like mountain tops in some wild
highland region. There was no apparent
motion to this and the waves beat and
rolled upon its base Just as they do on the
shores of an island. 1t seemed like a
mountain planted in the sea, only it was
white instead of green, as a mountain
should be. There were cracks and tents
and caverns, just as there are in ragged
mountain side, and all of beautiful blue
color, There were also slopes and crags
and precipices down which the water of
melted ice flowed in wild torrents Many
of these were equal to small rivulets and
some of the waterfalls were beautiful.
| This berg was two miles in circumference
at the base and about 800 feet above the
water.
TURNED UPSIDE DOWN.
As it is well known that floating ice
sinks deep and that there is much more
of it below than above the surface of the
water YOU may form some idea of what an
immense mass this mountain of ice was.
in a short time great rents will open in the
sides and immense quantities of ice will
fall into the sea from the top. The center
OF gravity will also be destroyed, and then
this huge monster will turn completely
upside down. This often saw As the
mass goes over with wild, hollow roar,
new peaks and cliffs arise out of the sea
as the old ones disappear, while great
cataracts of uplifted brine pour furiously
down the sides, Apart from the danger,
this is an awful sight and those who wit
ness it can usually only gaze in solemn
silence.
This somersault has sealed the fate of
this dangerous floating monster and its
end is ne r. Let US watch and wait. and
from our hut on the ice hummock we
listen for some sound that should serve
as a signal. In two days we are sum
moned by loud reports that sound like
great guns. fastening to our lookout we
see great open seams have been sprung in
the sides from the top to the water, and
doubtless below Rotten as it is, this
berg cannot stand this change of position
Crack after crack is sprung with deafen-
ing report. Lumps of all sizes fall from
its sides. Then there is roar like long
continued thunder and a moment after
the whole mass sinks down in ruin and
with mighty crash falls flat on the
ocean
This is the history of nearly all the
bergs that leave Behring's strait.-Her-
bert Batlett in The Current